1969 Travco 270 - Michigan

[dodgetimes2]

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New owner of a 1969 270 2+2 checking in. A few of you may recognize it as the one that was recently used in the movie Barefoot. My wife and I had been looking for a Travco for about five months when we came across a Facebook post stating this one was for sale by the company that provided it for the movie. We jumped on it right away and our offer was accepted. We took a long road trip from Michigan down to New Orleans to pick her up. It turned into one heck of a journey. Got a flat tire less than 50 miles into the trip back and ended up stuck in Mississippi for an entire weekend because every tire shop was closed Saturday and Sunday. Ended up ordering all new 8R-19.5 tires ($1000 installed) because the date code on the old tires was from 2002. She made it home over 1000 miles and through 95 degree weather (with no AC). The amount of attention it got was almost overwhelming, every gas and rest stop drew a crowd. Everybody has to get a picture. It was restored previously but the last four years have not been too kind to her. My punch list for repairs is growing by the day. Most likely we'll have to gut the interior. She smells terrible and there are multiple leaks in the roof as well as some of the windows. \n\nHere's a list of the problems and planned upgrades:\n\nLeaking homemade skylight where there once was an AC. Will be installing a Dometic heat pump in its place.\n\nLeaking roof vent. Will be replacing with a vent that has a multi-speed fan.\n\nLeaking back window. New seal probably needed. \n\nEntry door latch/knob is broken and we didn't get a working key for it (had to use a screwdriver the entire trip home). Not sure if it will be repairable or need to be replaced. I did learn that it is similar to the Bargman L100/L200 door handles that were used on Airstreams. \n\nGas gauge and speedometer are both broken. For the trip home I used a speedometer app for my phone and we made frequent fuel stops as we aren't sure what size the tank is. \n\nGenerator floor is rusted out and we're not sure if the generator even works. It's a 6.5 kW Kohler, it does turn over though so that's promising. \n\nSome paint and body work is needed, it currently looks good from about 20 feet away. Lots of spider cracks and the front grill piece is a bit mangled. \n\nWe've created a Facebook page to document the repairs/restoration process. \n\nhttps://www.facebook.com/Martha-Jo-A-1969-Dodge ... 110898860/

[77Travco]

Welcome!\nThat Travco logo on the side looks good! (See pic below) lol\n\nThe factory gas tank is 70 gallons.

[dodgetimes2]

70 gallons?! Really? Was that specific to certain models? I bought some old brochures off eBay and it listed 35 gallon standard and 50 gallon optional (see this one http://r.ebay.com/IjH5NH ).

[KB2CRK]

Welcome to the forum. The later models were 70 gallons. I don't know about the earlier ones.

[dodgetimes2]

77Travco I just looked at your thread about dropping your gas tank to replace the sending unit. It looks like your tank is easily twice the size of the one in my 69. I'll have to crawl back under there and get some measurements.

[Acesneights]

Welcome !!

[Acesneights]

IMG_0845.JPG

New owner of a 1969 270 2+2 checking in. A few of you may recognize it as the one that was recently used in the movie Barefoot. My wife and I had been looking for a Travco for about five months when we came across a Facebook post stating this one was for sale by the company that provided it for the movie. We jumped on it right away and our offer was accepted. We took a long road trip from Michigan down to New Orleans to pick her up. It turned into one heck of a journey. Got a flat tire less than 50 miles into the trip back and ended up stuck in Mississippi for an entire weekend because every tire shop was closed Saturday and Sunday. Ended up ordering all new 8R-19.5 tires ($1000 installed) because the date code on the old tires was from 2002. She made it home over 1000 miles and through 95 degree weather (with no AC). The amount of attention it got was almost overwhelming, every gas and rest stop drew a crowd. Everybody has to get a picture. It was restored previously but the last four years have not been too kind to her. My punch list for repairs is growing by the day. Most likely we'll have to gut the interior. She smells terrible and there are multiple leaks in the roof as well as some of the windows. \n\nHere's a list of the problems and planned upgrades:\n\nLeaking homemade skylight where there once was an AC. Will be installing a Dometic heat pump in its place.\n\nLeaking roof vent. Will be replacing with a vent that has a multi-speed fan.\n\nLeaking back window. New seal probably needed. \nUse a front windshield gasket.They are still available from Foretravel.\nEntry door latch/knob is broken and we didn't get a working key for it (had to use a screwdriver the entire trip home). Not sure if it will be repairable or need to be replaced. I did learn that it is similar to the Bargman L100/L200 door handles that were used on Airstreams. \nMost online RV parts dealers like ppl etc have the Brgman locks. To my knowledge they still make them as they were used on alot of RVs\nGas gauge and speedometer are both broken. For the trip home I used a speedometer app for my phone and we made frequent fuel stops as we aren't sure what size the tank is. \nCheck the grounds for the gas tank.\n\nGenerator floor is rusted out and we're not sure if the generator even works. It's a 6.5 kW Kohler, it does turn over though so that's promising. \n\nSome paint and body work is needed, it currently looks good from about 20 feet away. Lots of spider cracks and the front grill piece is a bit mangled. \nSpidercracks are in the gelcoat generally and a nightmare to fix so it might be best to live with it.\n\nWe've created a Facebook page to document the repairs/restoration process. \nDon't use Facebook so if you can keep us up to date here too. \nhttps://www.facebook.com/Martha-Jo-A-1969-Dodge ... 110898860/

\n\nPut some notes in...

[Acesneights]

Your lucky it had the 19.5 rims or you might have had a problem getting tires.

[mabrandes]

\nLeaking back window. New seal probably needed. \nUse a front windshield gasket.They are still available from Foretravel.\n

\n\nAces... I need to replace the seal as well.. when I call Foretravel, do I need to specify a specific type of winshield gasket? IE, are they universal or specific?\n\nMatthew

[Rosiethe69travco]

Welcome your Travco is s beauty! How did your glass replacement go? I need to replace my front glass and gasket.